


Promise

by malarkiness



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Drama, F/M, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:42:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24549343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malarkiness/pseuds/malarkiness
Summary: Post-KH3. Sora has been restored to the Realm of Light, but he can't help thinking his friends are hiding something from him.
Relationships: Kairi & Riku & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15





	Promise

“Aaaand you made it!”

Sora took the final stair step onto the landing and exhaled heavily. Kairi was supporting him under one arm, and it was her strength and encouragement that had helped him up the entirely too long staircase that led to Radiant Garden castle’s second floor. Her smile faded slightly as she looked at him now.

“You alright?” she asked. “Maybe I should’ve made Riku carry you up here—”

“M’fine,” Sora managed with a tired grin, finally catching his breath as he looked down the long hallway. “Which one’s our room?”

Kairi nodded her head to the first door on their left. “This one. C’mon, I’ll set you down on the bed.”

Sora let her lead him into the room the Restoration Committee had saved for them and Riku for the night. He was a little embarrassed to have to be depending on her like this, but Kairi didn’t seem at all fazed by his helplessness. His weight over her shoulders didn’t bother her much either, but then, there was a little more muscle in her arms now.

Not that he had been looking or anything.

They stepped through the doorway into a large bedroom. A window took up most of the wall opposite to them, and Sora could see out to the balcony that overlooked the bustling and still-growing town below. The sun was nearly set, and the colors streaming in from outside painted the room in such pleasant, comforting shades that Sora felt himself sink a little where he stood. Feeling this, Kairi led him to the large bed at the side of the room and sat down with him.

Sora couldn’t help but stay leaning against her, and he was grateful when she kept her arms around him. They stayed that way for a long moment, and Sora took comfort in the warmth of her touch as he thought about everything that had happened that day.

Four years. Sora had disappeared just over four years ago, or so Ienzo had told him when he had woken up in the laboratory a few hours earlier, utterly exhausted and with very little memory of what had transpired during that time. Riku and Kairi had been too busy hugging their best friend to fill him in on many details right away, and Kairi had been sobbing too hard to speak, anyway. But eventually, he learned that his friends had figured out a way to restore him to the Realm of Light. _How_ they did this, he still wasn’t sure; when he’d asked, Riku and Kairi had only exchanged looks.

“We’ll talk about it later,” Riku had told him. “Right now, let’s just make sure you’re okay.”

Most of the rest of the day had been full of Ienzo and Ansem the Wise running various tests on Sora’s heart to ensure everything was in order while Riku and Kairi waited outside the lab.

“Everything seems fine,” Ienzo had finally told him. “But you should probably stay here for the night and get some rest. All three of you could use it.”

And now here they were, spending his first night back to life in Radiant Garden. He wished they could go back to their island already, but even so, holding Kairi in his arms like this certainly did a lot to ease the homesick ache in his heart. As long as she and Riku were here, he could stand being away from home a little longer.

Still, Sora couldn’t help the vague unease he felt when he tried to guess at just what exactly Riku and Kairi had done to bring him back. Riku was still downstairs in the lab, evidently having a conversation with Ienzo and Ansem that they didn’t want Sora to overhear; Kairi hadn’t wanted him to either, apparently, as she had hurriedly volunteered to help him to their room after exchanging another quick glance with Riku.

Sora remembered the price he’d paid for Kairi’s life all those years ago, and his gut twisted in a knot. Surely they hadn’t—

“C’mon, let’s get ready for bed,” Kairi said gently, pulling him out of his thoughts. She slid his arm from around her, and Sora swayed where he sat, not realizing just how heavily he had been leaning on her. Kairi paused to steady him.

“I’m fine,” he assured her worried expression before sitting up a little straighter. “Just tired. Those were a _lot_ of stairs, heh.”

She gave him a smile that looked almost as tired as he felt. “Ansem said you’d probably need some extra recovery time. It’s not like with the replicas where all you need is the heart, and the body’s ready to go; we restored _all_ of you, so there’s more of an adjustment period.”

That was a little reassuring to hear, at least. Based off that, whatever they’d done to save him didn’t exactly _sound_ like the Power of Waking.

“Kairi,” he tried. “What did you guys—”

But she shook her head. “Later.”

She squeezed his hand as if in apology before kneeling at the side of the bed and popping open the red trunk that Sora just realized was sitting there. Two more trunks—one blue and one pink—rested on the other side of it, and Kairi caught his eye.

“The fairies made us some new gear,” she told him. “Most of it was stuff to protect Riku and me when we dove in to find you, but they added a few extra things…”

She withdrew some clothes from the trunk and set them in Sora’s lap. It looked like a pajama set, with a soft dark gray t-shirt and red sleeper pants patterned with his crown symbol. He noticed they were magically warm to the touch, too, as though they had been hanging in the sun all day.

“Nice,” he said appreciatively. Kairi nodded as she opened the pink trunk and began rummaging inside it.

“Do you need help getting dressed?” she asked him, glancing up. “I can help you if—”

Sora’s face ignited. “Th-that’s okay, I can do it.” He let out a nervous laugh. “I’m not _that_ tired, Kairi.”

Kairi opened her mouth to reply—likely to tease him, if her smirk was anything to go by—but Sora was spared any further embarrassment when Riku appeared at the door. The older boy gave Kairi a quick nod in response to the questioning glance she cast him, then saw the blush on Sora’s face and barely suppressed a laugh.

“What’d I miss?” he asked as he strode toward the blue trunk and clicked it open.

“Nothing,” Kairi said with an amused grin, standing up with her own bedclothes in hand. “I’m gonna change in the bathroom. Give him a hand, would you?”

“Sure.”

Kairi left the room, closing the door behind her. Sora scrubbed his face with his hands and heard Riku snort another laugh. When he looked up, though, Riku’s expression wasn’t derisive, but was one of fondness more than anything else. Sora caught his eye and couldn’t help but grin. Okay, maybe he’d gotten flustered over his near-lifelong crush again, but it was still comforting to return to something so familiar after all this time.

“ _Do_ you need help, though?” Riku asked as he pulled his own pajama shirt over his head.

“Nah, I can manage.” He set to work changing into his pajamas. They smelled faintly of lavender, and the warm material felt like heaven on his exhausted body. Sora let out a sigh of contentment and fell back on the bed, scooting himself into the middle.

“This thing is huge,” Sora said, stretching his limbs as far as he could and finding that his hands couldn’t reach either side of the bed.

“Not _that_ huge. Make some room.” Riku lifted Sora’s right arm out of the way so he could settle in on that side as he stifled a yawn. It was then that Sora noticed the familiar symbol patterned along Riku’s pants.

“Wow, that’s a lot of Lucky Emblems,” he said. “Where’s your phone? I should take a pict—Hey!”

Riku silenced him by lazily planting a pillow over his face and holding it there with one hand. Sora’s tired hands fumbled against the pillow, finally managing to shove it off just in time to see the bedroom door crack open.

“Everyone decent in there?” Kairi called from the hallway.

“As much as ever,” Riku replied, easily fending off Sora’s attempts to shove the pillow in _his_ face instead. Kairi stepped through the door and closed it, her day clothes bundled up under one arm. She was wearing a white tank top and purple pants that were decorated with big yellow stars, and Sora had just enough time to note how cute she looked before Riku plucked the pillow out of his hands and stuffed it back against the headboard.

Kairi lay down on Sora’s other side, and it was only then that he realized he was staring at her. He looked away and hoped the low light of the room was hiding his blush as he shuffled away a bit to give her more space. He wasn’t entirely sure _what_ their relationship was now, and as much as he wanted to think that they could just pick up right where they left off four years ago, he didn’t want to be presumptuous, either.

“Sora…”

He met Kairi’s eyes, and she chuckled at his bashfulness and opened her arms to him. Sora was in her arms in an instant, hugging her close and burying his face in the crook of her neck. After a moment, he felt one of her hands leave him, and then a warm presence behind him told him that she’d pulled Riku into their hug, too. Riku’s arm stretched over the both of them to pull them close, and Sora clung to Kairi still tighter. He wanted to stay like this forever, snug and safe between the two people he loved most.

After a long moment like this, he felt Kairi’s hold on him loosen slightly, and he pulled away just enough to look at her. His vision was a little blurry, and he realized he had started crying at some point. Kairi thumbed away a tear, and despite her own tiredness, she gave him a tender smile.

“Sorry,” Sora said, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hand. “I’m just… happy to finally be back.”

“Me too,” she said gently. “Get some sleep. We’ll talk about everything in the morning.”

Kairi shifted to lie on her back, settling her hand over where Riku’s rested at her side. Sora piled his hand on top and let his eyes fall closed at last as he felt himself drift away.

\---

_Darkness. He saw nothing, felt nothing._

_“A body can be rebuilt,” a voice was saying. Sora strained his memory, trying to remember if he had heard it before, but he couldn’t quite place it. “And a heart can be restored, but a soul… You can’t exactly create that from scratch.”_

_“So what do we do?” Riku. As soon as Sora recognized his voice, his friend materialized at his side. “Steal one?”_

_The other voice laughed. “I like how you think, kid, but no. Taking a soul by force would damage it. Probably wouldn’t be much use to your friend. Not for long, anyway.”_

_Sora looked down at his hand and was surprised to see that it wasn’t his at all; the smaller frame, lighter skin, and star-charmed bracelet were all Kairi’s. Through her eyes, he watched her slowly ball her hand into a fist._

_“It has to be given up willingly,” she said. “A sacrifice.”_

_“Bingo.”_

_A small laugh escaped her. “Figures.”_

_Cold dread flooded his stomach, and Sora knew exactly what she was thinking. He wanted to shout something to stop her, but he was trapped somewhere within her, unable to speak or move for himself at all._

_Kairi put her hand over her heart, and Sora felt an odd warmth come over him as her resolve strengthened._

_“Tell me what I have to do.”_

\---

Sora woke with a start.

He stared at the empty space in front of him, trying to collect his thoughts as his breathing steadied. It had only been a dream. Everything was fine. Little by little, he pieced what he at least knew was real back together in his mind:

_I’m alive. I’m in Radiant Garden. Riku and Kairi are with me—_

Wait, no, that last one wasn’t totally right. He could feel Riku’s arm over his side and hear his slow breathing from behind him, but Kairi was no longer in his arms. Sora propped himself up on his elbows and scanned the dark room, a mild panic beginning to flicker in his chest—

Oh, there she was. The window that led out to the balcony was slightly ajar, and Kairi was sitting on the steps outside. Sora exhaled, feeling a little ridiculous for getting worried so quickly. He spent a long moment just watching her, admiring the way the moonlight played on her hair and trying to decide if she looked like she would want company or not. Then he noticed her shiver just slightly and rub her arms, and that made up his mind for him.

He carefully wriggled out from under Riku’s arm and slipped out of bed, pausing to pull the covers back up over his friend before grabbing a spare blanket draped over the headboard and making his way to the window. He eased it further open, but the old hinges creaked nonetheless, and Kairi jumped slightly at the sound.

“Sorry,” he said, and she relaxed after seeing it was him.

“Hey.” Her eyes flitted up and down his body as though checking for injury. “You okay?”

“Yeah, fine. Just woke up and saw you weren’t there.”

She shrugged. “Sorry. I couldn’t fall asleep, so I just came out here.”

Sora noticed the dark circles under her eyes; she certainly _looked_ like she hadn’t slept in a while.

“Are _you_ okay?” he asked her as he climbed out onto the steps. “Maybe Ienzo should check you out, too—“

Kairi laughed, though Sora hadn’t been joking, and then spotted the blanket in his hand. Her expression softened. “That for me?”

Sora felt himself blushing again, but he nodded as he knelt down next to her and draped it over her shoulders. Kairi stretched out an arm to hold the blanket open to him.

“You can join me if you want,” she said. She was smiling and biting the corner of her lip, and Sora knew she was trying not to laugh at his increasingly reddening face.

“Sure,” he said as casually as he could, and busied himself with sitting next to her and pulling the blanket over his shoulder, turning his head away from her to hide his blush. He left a little space between them just to be polite, but Kairi scooted closer and wound her arm around his, and Sora felt himself melt into her touch almost at once. He couldn’t help it; he liked having _some_ kind of assurance that she was really, _physically_ there, that she wasn’t going to slip through his fingers again, or he through hers.

As though reading his mind, Kairi twined their fingers together and squeezed his hand. Sora squeezed hers back, and he couldn’t help thinking about how lucky he was to be with her again after all this time.

“You know,” he said after a moment. “I don’t think I ever actually thanked you and Riku for finding me.”

“We didn’t do it alone,” she replied. “Donald, Goofy, and the king visited other worlds looking for anything that might help you. Terra, Ven, and Master Aqua searched the Realm of Darkness for clues about how to recover your heart. Roxas and Xion let Ansem try all these experiments on their memories to see if he could find something that would lead us to you. Naminé helped me figure out how to follow my heart’s connection to yours… You have a lot of friends who love you and missed you, and they wanted to do all they could to help you.”

Sora winced with guilt at her words. He hadn’t meant for anyone to have to go through so much trouble for his sake; four years ago, he had gone after Kairi’s heart believing there would be no hope of saving him at all. But here he was again, alive and well thanks to all his friends.

“I’ll have to go see everyone and thank them, then,” he said finally.

Kairi nodded. “Definitely.”

She laid her head on his shoulder as she looked at their intertwined hands, running her thumb up and down his. She did this for a long, peaceful moment, and Sora found himself leaning his head on hers, ready to fall back asleep right there on the steps.

“Sora,” she said finally. “Do you think you could promise me something?”

“Anything,” he said and meant it as he sleepily nuzzled her head. His eyes began to drift closed, and he couldn’t remember the last time he felt this content. “Name it.”

“Promise me you won’t throw yourself away like that ever again.”

Sora’s eyes snapped open. That was not what he was expecting her to say. He lifted his head off hers so he could face her fully.

"Throw myself away?” he echoed, confused. “What do you mean?”

Kairi gave him a look not unlike the one she’d always given him back home when they were younger and he had just said something clueless.

“I mean,” she said. “I don’t want you giving yourself up for me anymore. You’ve… kind of made a habit of it.”

_Oh._

“So… So what, if you’re ever lost again, you want me to just abandon you?” he asked, incredulous. “Why would I promise you something like that?”

“Because it’d be the right thing to do. No, listen to me,” she added when he opened his mouth to argue. “Sora, you’re not just _my_ friend, you know. There are so many people who love you and need you, and for you to just… To just abandon _them_ on some odd chance you could save me? You can’t do that anymore.”

Sora looked away, feeling rather chastened. Okay, fair, when he had gone after Kairi’s heart all those years ago, he hadn’t once considered the fact that he would be leaving everyone else behind. There’d been no time to think about it, but even if there had been… Well, he knew his decision would’ve been the same.

He looked back at her to see that she was watching him closely. Her grip on his hand tightened, and he considered for a moment. The only argument with her he could remember winning was the one they’d had in the Traverse Town waterway when he’d told her to stay behind while he searched for Riku, and even _that_ win had been temporary; she had eventually just come looking for them both anyway. With a track record like that, he wasn’t sure how he was going to fend against her on this. He tried for a different approach:

“Don’t you think that’s kind of unfair?” he asked her, and she furrowed an eyebrow. “I mean, it’s _my_ life, Kairi. I should get to decide who I throw it away for. Awfully rude of you to think you have a say in that.”

Kairi actually blushed at that, and she opened her mouth to retort before she caught the smirk on the corner of his lips. She playfully elbowed his side, biting back a grin.

“I’m _serious_ ,” she said, sobering. “I don’t want you doing anything like that again. Not for me.”

He supposed he could lie. He could tell her that sure, if he ever lost her again, he’d be content to just forget her because apparently everyone else needed _him_ more than he needed _her_. But he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to say something like _that_ convincingly, and even if he could, Kairi knew a lie when she heard one. Especially if it was coming from him.

“Kairi,” he said finally, meeting her eyes. “I can’t keep a promise like that.”

She sighed and looked—if possible—even more tired at his answer, but not surprised.

“I know,” she replied, shoulders slumping slightly as she rubbed her eyes and looked away from him.

“Then why’d you ask?”

Kairi kept her weary gaze fixed on the sprawling town below them and didn’t answer. And there it was again, that same nervous, nagging feeling from earlier that made Sora want to know just what she and Riku had done to save him. What would make Kairi want him to swear to give her up if he ever lost her again? He remembered the dream that had woken him up moments ago, and his stomach twisted. Somehow he doubted that had all been just a dream after all—

“C’mon,” Kairi said at last, squeezing his hand again before starting to stand up. “It’s late. We should get back to bed.”

“Kairi.” Sora held on to her hand to stop her, and she finally met his gaze. He puzzled over how to phrase his question for a moment, almost afraid of what her answer might be. “You’re not… going anywhere, are you?”

“ _You’re_ asking _me_ that?” she said with a chuckle, but then she saw the concern in his eyes. She reached over and tapped him lightly on the chest right over his heart. “Don’t worry. We’ll always be together, remember?”

Sora didn’t find her words all that reassuring, but the raw tiredness in her voice kept him from pressing her. Instead, he let her lead him by the hand back into the bedroom where he returned to his place in the middle of the bed. He tried to make sense of what he could remember of his dream from earlier, but knew he was still missing too many pieces to work everything out. Kairi settled in next to him, and she must have heard how loudly Sora was thinking because she laid her hand on his cheek and gently turned him to face her.

“Hey,” she murmured. “I’m not going anywhere. Promise.”

Sora took her hand and squeezed it, and while he still couldn’t shake the uneasiness he felt about their future, he found some comfort in her touch. Kairi gave him a small smile and lay down on her side, leading one of his arms over her waist.

Sora wasn’t sure what his return had cost her, or how much time she had bought him, but at least for now he could hold her in his arms. He listened as her breathing gradually slowed into sleep, and he pulled her closer to him; maybe if he held on to her tight enough this time, she would still be there when he woke up.

**Author's Note:**

> This was initially just going to be a plotless, self-indulgent destiny trio snuggle-fest that I wrote to destress, but instead, it turned into this. I really wasn't sure what to tag it, but I guess it counts as drama?
> 
> Anyway, hoped this turned out alright! I probably had more fun designing everyone's PJs than anything else, lol.


End file.
